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MLS Impelling Towards Labor Strike
The players of Major League Soccer may go on strike in 2010.
On March 5th, 2010, the MLS and the MLS Players Union accepted an offer from George H. Cohen to mediate negotiations. The two sides have not met since an acrimoniously assembly on February 22nd.
Cohen, who is head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, has 40-years of experience as a labor lawyer, negotiator, and mediator. He will try to help the two sides reach an agreement. However he’s only a mediator and not an arbiter. His decisions are non-binding and either side can exit the negotiations at any time.
'I don't think any of our players want to go on strike, and we are taking their issues very seriously,' said MLS commissioner Don Garber to the Associated Press. 'The expectations are that the season will start on time, and the expectation is we will reach agreement with our players.'
According to an unnamed union source:
“I think ultimately [having the mediator present] is a good thing, just to get the process going again. That way, we’re not stuck trying to get something done the day before the season starts.”
The league has been operating without a collective bargaining agreement since February 25. The season starts in earnest March 25 in Seattle, Washington when the Sounders host the league’s newest expansion team, the Philadelphia Union. The Los Angeles Galaxy begin their season March 27 when they welcome the New England Revolution.
The players want an increase in guaranteed contracts and free-agent rights. MLS is unique in its approach to labor. Unlike other professional sports league, the MLS’ front office negotiates players contracts not the individual teams.
A mediator may appear to be an ominous development, but it could actually be a result of one of the participants’ larger bargaining strategies.
Duke University law professor Paul Haagen explains:
“One possibility is that you use the mediator essentially to negotiate with your own constituents. You might do it if what you’re trying to do as a union is convince your membership that this is a fair deal. Or you might do it as a negotiating unit for teams if you’re trying to convince your ownership that they’ve got to give on something. It could also be that there are just personal issues that they’re trying to overcome between the negotiators.”
Expeditious Elucidation
- MLS was founded in 1993.
- MLS has 16 teams, all but one is located in the United States.
- MLS is seen on ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel, CBC, Rogers Sportsnet, and TeleFutura.
- MLS teams compete for the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup.
- Internationally, MLS teams compete in the CONCACAF Champions League, Pan-Pacific Championship, and SuperLiga.
- D.C. United is the MLS’ most successful team. They’ve won 4 MLS titles.
- MLS lost more than $350 million between 1993 and 2004.
- At the conclusion of the 2009 season, Jaime Moreno was the MLS’ all-time leading goal scorer with 131.
If we allow ourselves to be pessimistic, and imagine that the next round of negotiations–scheduled to take place next week–end without progress, than we can say with confidence that a players strike is forthcoming.
What would happen is the league would declare an impasse. At this time the MLS, operating within the parameters of current labor laws, would make its last, best offer to the union (which they would, of course, reject).
The players union would then go about scheduling the most advantageous time to go on strike. Obviously, it would be at the conclusion of World Cup 2010 (July 11). While the quality of the MLS is nowhere near the quality of the World Cup, the MLS would still benefit from the momentum created by the globe’s biggest soccer tournament.
An MLS players strike will not be as devastating as one might believe. Certainly the league lacks the resources for an extended work stoppage but a relatively short strike would be easy to overcome and might actually aid in increasing soccer’s popularity.
The league has a rabid, ardent fan base, and unfortunately for them there’s nary an alternative competing to sell them soccer tickets. Chances are good that they will return after a brief work stoppage, especially when it’s a first for the MLS.
Counter-intuitively, a short lived players strike will be a benefit for the league as it will attract much-needed media attention. This will market the league to the undecided even with soccer’s loudest cynics (and there are many) scoffing at the “illegitimate” league’s labor woes.
“Why would a league no one cares about go on strike?”
Sure the work stoppage will be the stuff of punch lines but some of those jokesters, when the MLS resumes play, may stick around to actually watch the league they so vehemently ridicule.
MLS: Key Dates
- January 31 – League’s First collective bargaining agreement ends
- February 22 – Last Time Players and MLS negoiatied before expiration of CBA
- February 25 – The second CBA extension expires
- March 20 – Toluca @ Columbus in quarterfinals of CONCACAF Champions league
- March 20 – Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey officially opens
- March 25 – Philadelphia Union @ Seattle Sounders FC
- June 11 – World Cup begins
- July 11 – World Cup Final
Go Houston!
Nice article. Thanks for the clear-cut info.